Open Your Eyes
by BrokenxTalon
Summary: It didn't seem real. It couldn't be real. Not Adam. Not her precious baby. (One Shot/Spoilers for "Honey")


**A/N:** I am still completely and utterly agonized by what happened on Degrassi last night. I couldn't sleep after it happened. I just kept wondering, _is this real? There's no way they would do this to **Adam. **_I'm honestly beginning to think that this show is *expletive*ing with me, because every time I have a favorite character, they get killed off. (ELI, WATCH YOUR BACK!) I haven't felt so connected to a character since JT Yorke, and we all know how well that ended. After watching the TeenNick and Much Music promos today, I realized I had a massive amount of feels that had to be written out. So, in honor of our favorite Adam Torres, here it is: short, quick, and to the point. Hang in there, fellow Degrassians!

* * *

She could not resist the urge to touch him—to cup her hand around his cheek, to tuck his hair behind his ear, to hold his hand. It didn't seem real. It _couldn't _be real. Not Adam. Not her precious baby. She leaned in carefully—cautiously—pressing a kiss against the center of his forehead. He was battered, bruised, and broken. His chest was sunken in and his face was ghost white. He looked so wrong, and yet, somehow, he looked so peaceful.

Adam. How could anybody in their right mind ever go out of their way to hurt him? All of these people who had never dared to understand him… did they understand now? Would they hear of the car accident that had tragically ended his young life and think, _what have I done? _Audra shook her head. Her sweet, innocent son had never intentionally hurt anybody in all his life… he just wanted to be happy. Why did that have to be so difficult? Why did she have to stand by and accept that his life was always going to be hard no matter what. She was his _mother. _Why couldn't she just take that pain away from him?

For as long as she lived, Audra would never forget the day that Drew walked into her bedroom and said, _Mommy, Gracie has a bunch of burns on her arms. _She remembered breaking through her daughter's door, scooping her up in her arms, and holding her close while she cried. She knew Grace had been acting strangely—the school had even brought it to their attention—but she never would have imagined that her little girl would _ever _hurt herself.

_Gracie Torres, you can __**never **__do this to yourself again. Do you understand me?_

And her 8-year-old daughter just latched onto her tightly, crying, _I'm not Gracie! I'm not Gracie!_

At the time, Audra hadn't understood. And truthfully, it took her many, many years to _really _comprehend that she _didn't _have a daughter named Gracie. She had a son named Adam. She had two beautiful _boys _that she would never change for the whole world… because there was nothing that Audra wanted more. She knew that as long as she had her family, she could never be happier. So she set out on a mission to make sure that they were always safe.

_I'm here, _Adam had told her once. _I'm safe._

Audra felt the tears glaze over her eyes, burning. "You told me you were safe," she whispered, running her fingers through his brown locks. "So open your eyes. You promised me, honey, wake _up._"

She choked on the hard lump in her throat, causing bitter, salty tears to race down her cheeks. She held him close and leaned in to kiss him again—once on each eye. She pulled back slightly, waiting for any sign of life, but Adam didn't move. He didn't wake up and tell her that everything was alright and it was all just a joke. He didn't. He couldn't. He wasn't there anymore.

"Momma's here, Adam. I won't leave you. Please come back to mommy."

Nothing answered her cries except for the thick, deafening silence of the hospital room. She closed her eyes, clearly hearing Drew's final words to his brother in the back of her mind. _Let's leave this place. Let's fly away together. Take me with you, Adam. Don't leave me here alone! _And still, nobody responded. Adam had left them.

She had tried so hard to shelter her boys from pain, but this sort of pain was unstoppable—unfixable. Audra sobbed, leaning in to touch his forehead with hers.

"I love you, Adam" she cried. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you. Fly high, baby. Your pain is gone."

The only thing giving her hope was knowing that he was finally at peace.

Her pride and joy. Her son.

Adam.


End file.
